Festival 56 in Princeton to offer 2-week theater day camp for youth

Learning Stage, the education committee of the Princeton Theater Group, is offering Camp 56, a two-week theater day camp for youth entering third grade through 2024 junior high graduates, in conjunction with Festival 56′s summer season.

Participants will have the opportunity to experience and take part in live performances while immersing themselves in the many aspects of producing a show.

Camp directors are Jenna Tremblay-Reilly and Reid Tomasson. Tremblay-Reilly is a graduate of Rhode Island College in musical theater with a master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling specializing in expressive arts therapy and drama therapy. She is a crisis clinician for Child and Family Services and RISE Counseling, and works at Barrington Christian Academy as chair of the performing arts department, where she is a kindergarten through 12th-grade full-time performing arts teacher and director/choreographer of middle and high school plays, musicals and showcases.

Tomasson is a 2023 graduate in filmmaking at Columbia College Chicago and has professional acting credits at Paramount Theatre in Aurora and Festival 56. Tomasson has directed and acted in community productions at Stage 212 in La Salle, Engle Lane Theatre in Streator and Illinois Valley Community College. Tomasson directed Camp 56 in 2022 and 2023.

The team is working closely with Festival 56 artistic directors Jimmy Calitri and Tim Seib to produce a theater-immersive experience. The camp will be from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays from June 24 to July 5 at St. Matthew Lutheran Church in Princeton.

Join the Student Theater Showcase and have the chance to perform in ”Urinetown.”

“Camp 56 participants will get to learn, create, hone their craft and experience theater in a unique, exciting and fun way,” Tremblay-Reilly said.

Camp staff will engage campers in a series of activities including song, dance, makeup, costuming, trips to the festival sets and visits with cast and crew. The culmination of the camp experience will be an onstage appearance as part of the chorus ensemble in five to 11 performances of the Festival 56 production of “Urinetown.” The camp fee is $125 a child. Need-based scholarships and family discounts are available.

To register, email LearningStage@festival56.com or visit the Festival 56 website at festival56.com and click on the Education tab. Registration forms can be picked up at the theater. Camp forms and fees should be mailed to the Festival box office at 316 S. Main St., Princeton, IL 61356.